The Best of the Best
by InkyBrush
Summary: OCxOC So there's this punkish guy who's super strong, right? Then comes along this strong-willed girl. Together, will they be able to conquer their worst fears, inside and out? Will he replace her with a prettier chick 'cause he's a shallow jerk? Will Infernape ever keep a sword?


OOC: This story is the work of two authors putting their brains together. I write Phoenix, his Pokemon, the Unova Elite Four and their Pokemon. Twilifay, the other co-author, writes Felicity and her Pokemon. TOGETHER, we made this.

A symphony of sounds came from the ground as he dragged his feet through the dead leaves. It was getting close to winter, and all the leaves on the ground were dead and crunchy. His Infernape was imitating him, purposefully putting on a serious face and walking stiffly. He also made sure to drag his dirty monkey feet through the leaves. Phoenix glanced at him and narrowed his eyes. That monkey… He was strong, but eccentric to a fault. He couldn't remember why he brought him along in the first place. Phoenix' Houndoom trotted along beside him like a loyal guard dog. A truly faithful and strong companion was he. Phoenix patted the canine's head, who in response, looked up and licked it gingerly before putting his head back down. His tongue was warm and felt good against his chilly hands.

Infernape suddenly stopped and squatted, placing his knuckles on the ground. He always did that when he found something of interest. If he couldn't reach it or was afraid of it, he would pull up his lips, bare his fangs, and scream like a banshee on fire; or in this case, a howler monkey. That's exactly what he did, too.

His gums were bluish black and his teeth a dandelion yellow. He screeched, causing Phoenix and Houndoom to flinch. It really was earsplitting… Phoenix and Houndoom whirled around. Houndoom started growling at his obnoxious teammate, while Phoenix just scowled at him. The male's two lip rings which were placed next to each other on the left side of his lip clinked softly against each other as his expression changed. However, Infernape was pointing at something as he sounded the alarm.

They all looked over to see a person standing atop a cliff. Phoenix raised his right eyebrow, which had one piercing through it. He had an anti-eyebrow piercing under his right eye, and then a bridge piercing. He was good looking, but he stood out in a crowd more than just about anyone. He was tall, standing at about three inches over six feet. His hair was a dyed a bold red and spiky. Neon blue outlined his hair; it was at the end of every strand sticking out and every spike. Phoenix wasn't pale, but he wasn't exactly tan; he was close to it, but not quite there. The guy was wearing a tan penny coat with only two sets of buttons in the middle and one at the collar. Under it, he wore a regular black t-shirt. His black jeans were held up by two brown belts. One was between the loops of the pants; the other belt was hanging off his hips. Red, raggedy converse stuck to his feet.

The person on the cliff seemed to be female, but he couldn't tell from where he was standing. Whoever they were, they looked short. They also looked like they were about to jump, but he wasn't sure. Infernape was still screaming his head off, but they didn't seem to hear. The wind probably muffled it.

"We see it, be quiet!" He snapped, an annoyed look on his face. His Infernape looked at him with a blank stare before shrieking loudly at him and scampering about twenty feet away.

Felicity grinned as she looked over the cliff. It was the perfect spot for her purposes. It was a straight drop down to the water below where her Empoleon was waiting.

A calm voice filled her head as she walked a little ways away from the cliff's edge. "Are you sure this is a good idea? That drop could kill you."

"Relax Lucario. If Skarmory doesn't catch me, Metang can. Isn't that right Metang?" She grinned at her big, blue lug of steel who was waiting by the edge of the cliff.

"I think you're overestimating Metang's abilities."

"Relax, I'll be fine." Felicity grinned at the blue fox pokemon. She checked her coat and boots one last time. With everything ready she charged toward the edge of the cliff and jumped off into the air, her long black coat fluttering behind her as she shot through the air at nine point eight meters per second per second. If her calculations were correct, she should see her Skarmory right about now.

She landed on the silver bird with an oomph before shooting off at almost two hundred miles per hour. She grinned as she and her crazy friend flew over the mountain top. She leaned close as Skarmory went into a barrel roll. Her dark brown eyes narrowed a bit as she spotted a bright red on the ground that didn't match the landscape and stuck out like a sore thumb.

She shrugged her shoulders and urged her steely friend faster, ignoring how cold her legs and butt were getting. Oh how Felicity hated the cold! With one last wild trick, she had Skarmory land. "See? Nothing to worry about!" She laughed as Lucario shook his head at her. She patted Skarmory on its head and returned to its pokeball. Steel types did not like the cold, and just because they were resistant to it didn't mean they enjoyed it. She remembered she also didn't like the cold when her freezing rump and legs painfully came to her attention. She groaned; it was almost time to head north and meet with the champion, and she wasn't finished exploring Unova yet. She shivered as again as she called back Empoloen and Metang to their pokeballs.

"Well Lucario, it's about time to head to Opelucid City."

The wise pokemon's calm voice filled her head as she repacked her stuff and pulled out a red knit hat. "I am happy to see you aren't being immature about this. I know you wanted to see more of the region before beginning your training."

"Hey I can be mature when I want to!" She glared over at the blue fox before pulling her gloves on. "Besides, I wouldn't do anything that would compromise my chances of being a gym leader."

"Very good to hear-" the Lucario's thought dropped off as he looked over at the forest area. "Someone else is here."

Felicity nodded and reached for her Scizor's ball. "Who's there? Come out where I can see you!" Her eyes and ears searching for what her friend had sensed. Lucario hadn't actually heard them, but he could sense their aura.

"They're too far away to hear us." He looked at his trainer. "Want to investigate?" She nodded and warily moved down the cliff, keeping an eye out for other people.

Lucario quickly sensed where they were and pointed with his paw. Standing there was a large reddish orange object that looked human, another one that was a bit darker that also looked human, and what looked like a dark-type quadruped Pokémon. The orange one seemed to be constantly moving, and when it did, moved in very unorthodox and inhuman-like ways. Also, it's "hair" was constantly waving in the wind. The quadruped and other human stayed where they were, but they were looking over at Felicity and Lucario. Had they spotted them?

By now, they were in earshot of each other. The orange one had stopped jumping around and was also watching them.

Felicity took in a deep breath before shouting, "WHO THE HECK ARE YOU?!"

Lucario shook his head at this. "Wonderful way to make friends…" he muttered.

It seemed as though Lucario's point of view was better in this case. Phoenix was instantly put off by the lady's loud and assertive nature. She reminded him of Infernape. He loved his Infernape, but he could only deal with one. It was exactly like having your little sibling constantly at your side and you were the one responsible for it. He still couldn't make out her features, but he could tell from her voice that she was female.

Houndoom stepped forward and bared his fangs, growling. "Stand down," his trainer commanded. Houndoom narrowed his eyes at the oncoming strangers before turning around and circling behind his trainer, sticking his head out from behind his legs and growling.

"I could ask the same of you," Phoenix called back, making sure his voice was loud enough for them to hear.

At this time, Infernape tilted his head to the side and intently watched the strangers. Without warning, he moved his hand forward to run up to the strangers like an excited puppy, but Phoenix knew his Pokemon well. "Infernape, no." The monkey froze in its place before plopping down on the ground and grumbling.

"Hold on a second! I'll be down there in a moment!" Felicity pulled out her Skarmory's ball and called her out. The dark-haired girl shivered as she pulled off her gloves and hopped on the silver bird. So cold! "Lucario, stay back and hit them with a shadow ball if they aren't friendly." With those instructions the blue fox zipped into the woods and started making his way toward the new-comers.

Felicity directed her silver-winged friend to land by the people. She quickly hopped off and pulled on her gloves. She noticed that it wasn't a second person but an Infernape that was standing beside the other guy. She was a little taken back by the sheer size of the Houndoom. Her attention was drawn back to the fiery monkey's head. "Is that yours? It's really cold out here," she said, her teeth chattering a bit as she spoke.

Phoenix was waiting for her to introduce herself or something, and was a little surprised. He hadn't at all expected that. "You should put on some more layers if you're cold, but yes. He's mine, but he's a little… well, to put it simply, mentally challenged. He's friendly, though."

The man was taken by surprise a little bit by this girl. She hadn't shown any reaction to his punkish appearance, but had to his Pokemon. Also, if she was cold, why didn't she prepare for it better? He had noticed her other companion had darted into the forest. She had probably been suspicious at first. Phoenix was still suspicious of her. Jumping off a cliff and trusting a sleek Pokemon to catch you, then fly off at such speeds? It was surprising that she hadn't fallen during her ride. He also noted that she was tiny. She was at least a foot shorter than he was, and she looked about as old as a teenager. Phoenix figured she was just a silly trainer that didn't really know all that much. He also assumed that she was just trying to 'become the strongest' as so many others were. He doubted she would make it to his level, but if she did, he would enjoy beating her.

"I'll have you know I'm wearing two coats! You try riding a steel bird and come off all warm." She pulled back on her gloves and started to warm her hands. "Come here Infernape, don't run away. I just want to hug you!" Felicity sighed and turned toward the tall man. His punkish appearance didn't bother her at all; she had gone to school with a few guys that had dressed like him. They had all acted tough, but in the end that's all it was; an act. The Houndoom gave her a little pause; it was only a few inches shorter than her. It was huge! "Sorry, where are my manners. I'm Felicity, but please call me Felix; everyone else does." She stuck out her hand and grinned.

Infernape slowly crept on his knuckles and feet toward the new girl. He moved next to her and sniffed her before standing up. The crown of fire on his hand danced in the wind, making noise as the large flame was pushed around. Heat billowed off of the monkey naturally. His head was hot, but the rest of him was pleasantly warm; his fur was soft, too.

Phoenix extended his hand and shook the lady's. "Phoenix." He noticed that her clothes didn't seem to be of this region. She looked more like she was from the Sinnoh region. What was she doing in Unova? He decided to ask. "You're not from this region, are you? What're you here for?" he asked, making sure that it was clear that he was only curious.

"Infernape, stop it." Infernape had been playing with her braided hair. He had stuck his lip out and put the end of the braid on it, pretending he had a mustache. When he was found out, he barked part of his name and leaped up, running over to his trainer and sitting beside him.

Felix giggled a little as she pulled her braid over her shoulder and scratched her neck. "I'm from Sinnoh, I'm here trying to start my own gym. I'm supposed to head back to Opelucid City and talk with the champion about it. So what are you doing up here, Fire Bird?"

Phoenix raised an eyebrow at her. _Fire Bird? _He decided to let it go. He opened his mouth, about to say that he was a member of the Elite Four and therefore didn't need business somewhere to be there, but decided against it. This girl wanted to be a gym leader, and the Elite Four were technically special gym leaders… He figured it would be better if he kept his mouth shut about it. He didn't want her to get jealous. After all, he was living a grander version of her ultimate dream. Not only that, but he was the second most-powerful person in the Elite Four. The Champion didn't count as one of the Elite Four.

Now he had to make up a believable lie; or at least, scale down the truth in such a big way that she would never find out what he was actually doing here. "Just walking around. I like this area," he answered, looking up at the sky and shoving his hands into his pockets. "But after I'm done here, I have to go to Opelucid City as well." He looked down at her. "Do you want me to escort you?" he asked, only being polite. You kind of had a reputation to uphold if you were Elite Four. Even if they didn't know who you were, you still had to act like you were a very virtuous person. It was just part of the business.

Her eyebrow twitched a little when he said the word escort. Felicity "Felix" Farlay needed no escort. She was about to say no, but then she looked at the Infernape again. _Warmth._ She sighed and let her irritation go. She could deal with a little chivalry if it meant that she got to travel with a fire-type. "It doesn't matter, but I wouldn't mind the company. I can wait around a bit for you to finish whatever, just so long as it doesn't take too long. I don't want to be late; it doesn't look good for a future gym leader to show up late."

Felix grinned as they came in view of Opelucid City. She was so excited to see who would be training with her. She looked over Lucario and smiled, "We're so close!"

"There is still a ways to go, but yes we are getting close," Lucario reminded her before she got too excited.

"Come on Lucario, I'll race you!" She took off into the grass. The blue fox sighed and ran off after her. He quickly caught up with her. They ran a little further until she ran out of breath and had to stop. She leaned against a tree and grinned. She knew she could never beat Lucario, but it was still fun to try.

A rustle in the grass next to them put them on alert. Suddenly a small red and black biped pokemon jumped out of the grass in front of them. "What is it?" she asked, staring at it.

"Perhaps now would be a good time to use your Pokedex?" Lucario prompted. Some days he worried about her.

"Right." She pulled out a small grey rectangle and pointed it at the biped.

"Pawniard, the Sharp Blade Pokémon. Pawniard's entire body is made of blades which it uses to inflict damage on its opponent. It is also dual type Pokemon; Dark and Steel," the mechanical voice informed her. Felicity began to grin. There was more, but she had stopped listening when it had said steel type.

"Steel type and Dark, well that just makes it that much better. Lucario Drain Punch!" The blue fox jumped into action; a green light formed around Lucario's paw as it attacked the unsuspecting pokemon knocking it out.

"Good work," Felicity smiled as she threw the pokeball she had in her hand and captured the unconscious pokemon. She walked over, picking up the ball; she shrunk it down before slipping it in her pocket. She didn't believe in many superstitions, but Felix took catching the Pawniard as a good sign to how the rest of her day was going to go.

Phoenix watched as the young lady and her Lucario dashed away. "Follow them, Infernape." His monkey saluted before leaping into a nearby tree. Silently, he followed them. Phoenix's Infernape was ridiculously fast and loved hunting, so he enjoyed this job. For protection, Phoenix kept Houndoom by his side. The wild Pokemon of Opelucid City weren't stupid enough to attack a guy with a 4'11'' hound from hell. If they were, they would instantly become Pokemon Barbecue.

Hands shoved in his pockets, Phoenix leisurely moved in the direction they had gone off in. He had arrived just as Felix caught a Pawniard. Okay, so she was a steel-type trainer who was aiming to become a steel-type gym leader. Her Pokemon seemed pretty powerful as well, so she was probably aiming to be one of the last gym leaders trainers had to fight before they challenged the Elite Four; aka, his troupe.

The Elite Four had some part in assessing trainers that wanted to become gym leaders; the rest was up to the public. "What made you choose the Steel type?" he asked, scratching Houndoom between the horns. Houndoom closed his eyes in pleasure and grinned, his menacingly sharp fangs showing. He couldn't really reach that spot.

Felix was still reveling in happiness from her catch that she didn't hear Phoenix walk up. Her smile fell a little when he asked why she choose steel type. Not many people had ever asked that. She cocked her head to the side a bit before deciding how to answer. "Well I originally wanted to train Flying types, but my first pokemon were Riolu and Piplup." Felicity laughed a little. She had left a few things out, but he didn't need to know that. "So why fire-types?"

Phoenix stared at her as he listened to her response. You could see him breathing because Opelucid City was located in the North, and it was almost winter. He nodded, but was a little surprised when she pretty much asked him the same question. He didn't want to tell her the truth because then she might be able to put two and two together, so he decided to take a different route. "You've only seen two of my Pokemon. How do you know I'm a fire-type trainer?" he asked, smiling as he turned and started walking toward Opelucid City. Houndoom turned and silently followed.

There was a rustling in the trees before Infernape leaped out with a very loud shriek. He was wielding a very leafy sword that was actually just a broken branch. He swung it powerfully, and you could tell because you could hear it cut through the wind and make a sort of zipping noise. He eagerly chased after his trainer, flinging the branch back into the forest when he arrived at Phoenix's side.

Phoenix didn't need to, but he went to the Pokemon Center and healed his two Pokemon anyway. Besides, if they were to find the Champion, this was probably where she would be. The man's intuition had been right.

A muscular, tall, powerful-looking woman sauntered down the stairs with one hand gliding across the railing. A very dangerous and creepy-looking Toxicroak followed.(He moves kind of like the regular No Face from Spirited Away would) When she reached the bottom, she noticed Number Three's presence and sniffed. "Well, hello Phoenix. I didn't expect to see you here."

"Yeah, I'm unpredictable like that." He shrugged and got his Pokeballs back from Nurse Joy.

She looked away and at Felicity for a few moments, before glancing back at him. She was clearly far more concerned with the male than the female, even though he had no business there whatsoever. "Are you sure you only want to carry Houndoom and Infernape with you? You would be much safer if you had your whole team..." she started, sounding a little worried about him.

"Ha, don't bother, Alicia." One guy called from the top of the stairs.

"Yeah. They're all fire-types anyway, so it's not like it matters," said a guy that looked exactly like the first. The two, they were identical twins, slid down the railing of the stairs and landed nicely.

Alicia, the champion, frowned. "Still. Having only two Pokemon with you is _not_ smart." She started going into reasons, but the twins rolled their eyes.

"What're you lecturing him for? He knows."

The other one scoffed. "Yeah, and if his stupid Infernape can beat my Swampert,"

"Which it did," the other twin interjected.

His brother glared at him. "Then he'll be fine. And may I remind you that it _also _beat your Blastoise?"

The other twin looked at his brother with an 'are you stupid?' look. "It knows Thunderpunch."

He turned up his nose and crossed his arms over his chest. "That's hardly an excuse."

The twins started bickering loudly with one another. Phoenix simply ignored them. "I'll be fine, Alicia," he assured her. However, his expression made it seem like he didn't really care. All that he cared about was that the girl should be able to hear all of this, and well... if she was smart at all, she would probably figure out his occupation and he didn't know how she would handle that.

Felix stepped away from the counter as Nurse Joy took her pokemon to be healed. She looked over and smiled a moment. It was fortunate that the Champion was at the pokemon center; she had not been looking forward to searching the city for her. Felicity watched a moment as Phoenix talked with her and a strange pair of twins. After a moment she decided that now was as good a time as any to talk to her and walked over.

"Um. Sorry to jump in, but I'm Felicity Farlay, we talk last year about the possibility of me become a gym leader. I was wondering when would be a good time to talk to about my getting a mentor?" Felix held her hands together front of her to stop herself from fidgeting. She really wished Lucario was with her, he was always better with words than she was.

"Oh yes, I remember you," the strong women said, suddenly recalling the small girl from the last time they had talked. "You wanted to open a steel-type gym if I remember correctly." Felix only nodded respectfully. This women had the power to stop her dream in her tracks if she wanted to; there was no way Felicity was going to upset her.

"So what do you think of Unova? You did ask to wait a year to look around, so what do you think?"

"It is really beautiful, but the winter here is colder than it is Sinnoh. I really like it here, there are some pretty incredible pokemon here."

"Good, it's important to like where you live. Now who to train you…"

Alicia milled it over for about a minute before smiling. "I've decided! Phoenix, I'm personally assigning Felix to you. Train her well, and be her mentor. Keep her safe. If you don't, I'll kill you." She smiled cutely at him.

Phoenix, wide-eyed, looked at her like she had just spoken Portuguese. The twins laughed at his unfortunate fate. Phoenix just scowled and huffed in an irritated way and looked to the side. "_Fine_," he growled, walking out of the Pokemon Center.

Felicity was slightly confused as to why Alicia had assigned Phoenix to train her. She had already guessed that he was really strong, but she wasn't sure as to how strong he was. She bowed and thanked the Champion before heading back over to the counter seeing as how her pokemon were all healed.

Phoenix was waiting outside, leaning against the wall of the building with his arms crossed over his chest. Houndoom sat loyally next to him, staring straight ahead and accidentally intimidating trainers who walked in and out. The man had his eyes closed and he didn't open them until Felix came out and spoke to him.

She slipped the seven balls onto the bracelet on her right wrist and walked outside, turning to her newly appointed mentor before grinning."So, oh-fearless leader, where are we heading first?"

He raised an eyebrow at her, his neon blue-green eyes staring at her. His eyes made him stand out more than any of his other features; so he generally wore sunglasses or color-changing contacts. He didn't need them, he just didn't like how people stared and so easily got hypnotized by his eyes. He wasn't wearing them now, even though he had been earlier.

"You wanna be a gym leader, right? It's probably best if you visit all the gyms in the region, battle the gym leaders, and study their style of battling as well as how they run their gym. You could get some good advice, stronger in the process, learn more about the region and pick which city you'd want your gym in. You have to beat that gym leader and pass the gym leader exam before you can actually hand out badges, though," he told her, pushing himself up off the wall of the building. Houndoom stood up and moved ahead a few steps, allowing room. The canine was ridiculously large; and to boot, he was also intelligent.

"Do you want to go through the gyms in order like regular trainers or just fight when you come upon a gym?" he asked, looking at her. Like they almost always were, his hands were pocketed in his pants. "I suggest going in order. Opelucid's gym is pretty tough, and a dragon type. If your Pokemon aren't quite as strong as you want them to be, we should head somewhere else." Phoenix knew that dragon types had no particular advantage to steel types, but at the same time, they didn't have a disadvantage. Dragon types in general, when leveled as high as they were in this city, were very dangerous. He had fought many dragon trainers because it was trending, and with his fire types, they were sometimes really hard to take down.

"Well I think it would probably be best to go in the order the trainers go, that way I can see what level I'd best fit at." Felix was shell shocked a bit that her request had been approved and that she would have the chance to try and knock out one of the current gym leaders. Good omen indeed. She rubbed her thumb over her newly acquired Pawniard's ball.

She stiffened suddenly feeling thing crawling on her neck and down her back. Slowly she set her bag down and reached up her back. Felix sighed as she felt soft fur under her fingers; carefully she plucked the small invader off her back.

"There you are. Metang was looking for you." Felix held the small yellow Joltik out in front of her scolding it playfully. She had wondered for a little bit if it had decided to leave. The small furry mite's only reply was its name. Felix giggled and put it in pants pocket where it was warm wouldn't get crushed.

Phoenix tried not to pay attention to what Felix was doing, but considering there was nothing else to grab his attention, it was too hard not to. Joltiks themselves were extremely cute, but watching a cute girl play with such a tiny, fluffy, adorable Pokemon made him crack a smile; and that sickened him. He didn't like liking cute things. However, he was unable to keep from watching them with a warm smile and soft gaze.

When they finished, he walked back into the Pokemon Center after telling her to get out her Skarmory. She had already proven that she could fly on it pretty well. He came out a few minutes later with a Pokeball that wasn't Infernape's or Houndoom's. He returned Houndoom to his own Pokeball and minimized it before sticking it on his belt. He tossed the third Pokeball into the air and watched it open mid-toss. A red beam shot out and formed an extremely large dragon-like Pokemon. It didn't reveal what specie of Pokemon it was by saying its name, but instead roared loudly. To tell the truth, this particular Pokemon was incapable of saying its own name.

Phoenix smiled and walked up to his Charizard who, upon seeing his master, squeaked with glee and got a bright look in his eye. He made gruff noises, charging up to his master and nuzzling him affection. Phoenix couldn't help but laugh and pet his dragon on the head. When the dragon nipped at his left ear, the man yelped. It was the ear that had rings all the way up the ear; the right ear just had a simple lobe piercing. Charizard liked tugging on his master's piercings, but Phoenix didn't like it at all; that was understandable.

Phoenix scolded him for a couple moments, the Charizard looking down with a very guilty and slightly sheepish expression. However, the scolding wasn't harsh or drawn out and was only about five seconds long.

Phoenix just sighed and patted the dragon on the head. "Ready to fly to Striaton, buddy?" he asked, grinning. The Charizard easily got over his guilt and roared happily. He looked up and blasted a pillar of scorching fire into the air; this guy's flamethrower was particularly powerful. His trainer grinned as Charizard knelt for him, and mounted his Pokemon's back.

Felicity stared a moment as the giant dragon roared. Her hand had went to the balls on her wrist before she remember that this beast of a pokemon was tamed. Her heart still raced as she looked it; her first instinct had been to get Empoleon out, but she was positive that this monster would rip her apart. The playfulness of the Charizard did little to calm her racing heart. Slowly she forced her hand back down away from her bracelet and her pokemon. She had not traveled half way around the world to lose it at the sight of a Charizard; she had come too far to back down now.

Felicity decided to instead distract herself and called out her Skarmory. She steel bird turned to her, curious as to why it had been called out. The pair's attention was drawn over to the dragon when it blasted a pillar of fire into the air. Felix held on her steel feather friend so that she didn't fall. Felicity was fine with fire types, for the most part. It was Charizard she had a problem with. It was a part of the reason she hadn't gone with flying types as her first choice.

"Don't fly ahead of us if you don't know where Striaton is," he told Felix, having Charizard turn around and look down at them. They knew Skarmory was much faster than Charizard, but Charizard was much larger than the bird; in addition to that, he was more powerful than her Skarmory and had a deadly type advantage to boot.

Felicity looked up when she heard Phoenix talking to her. She nodded and watched as he took off. Felix swallowed her fear as she removed her gloves and hat before jumping on Skarmory.

Felix leaned forward a bit and whispered her instructions in Skarmory's ear. The bird ruffled its steel coat a bit and took off. It kept within sight distance of the giant reptile but stayed far enough away so that her mistress wasn't so unnerved. Felicity stayed silent as they followed the powerful fiery trainer.

It was a long flight to Striaton City, but Phoenix wasn't cold at all; just one of the perks of having a Charizard. They had to take about a total of three breaks just because of how far away the city was. The second break, Phoenix treated her to lunch. He had noticed that she didn't seem to like chivalry as she started protesting. Unfortunately for her, this was Charizard's favorite restaurant chain and was eagerly stomping up to the buffet. He accidentally knocked over tables and people as well as their food, and even set some things on fire by swinging his tail around. He had gotten a hold of some miltank steak and looked back to his trainer with a grin. He noticed all the destruction he caused and immediately started helping people up and fanning the flames out of existence. Phoenix smirked at her. "If you think you can handle our appetite, then go ahead and empty your pocketbook. Oh, and payment for destruction counts as part of the bill."

He moved to help his Pokemon and readily apologized to the people. When they saw that it was Phoenix of the Elite Four, they almost immediately forgave him. Children were allowed to climb and play on Charizard, who was more than happy with the attention, as adults gathered around and started talking to him. However, the owners were not so happy. When Phoenix grabbed his wallet and pulled out a giant wad of cash, they immediately started treating him like the celebrity he was. He didn't really care how they treated him, but he didn't want people constantly staring or trying to talk to him as he ate. People who wanted to talk to him especially badly and seemed to refuse to leave him alone, he secretly whispered to them that he was on a date and gestured to Felicity. They seemed to understand, even though he was lying, and left him alone.

"And if you're still not comfortable with it, just think of it as a small reward for starting your quest to reach your dream," he said, biting into some kind of foreign food. Charizard sort of chirped(apparently they can do that) and nodded happily, slurping pasta and making an utter mess yet again. Phoenix didn't seem at all disturbed by it, but eventually, he scolded his Pokemon for making a mess and even had to wipe his mouth with a napkin for him.

When they were finished, Phoenix paid for the entirety of the food and repair bills; what he had given to them earlier was just for their troubles. He avoided people who wanted to talk to or battle him by telling them that he needed to reach Striaton before sundown. In all reality, he actually did, but they could fly at night. Charizard would just have to deal with staying awake for that long.

They had only one more rest stop to arrive at before they landed in Striaton City. It would be too late to challenge the gym leaders that day, so it would have to be done the next day; that is, assuming something terrible didn't happen to disturb the schedule.

Felicity sighed as she stepped outside and way from Charizard. She knew that the lizard pokemon was tamed but sitting so close it made her start to shake all over again. Her governess would have been impressed with the self-control she had displayed; it was something she had failed to learn when she was little.

Phoenix, even though he was busy eating and paying attention to other people as well as his Charizard, _did _notice how uneasy Felix seemed. She wasn't nervous about the upcoming gym battle or anything; she definitely wasn't the nervous type. So what was it?

After awhile, he chased the thought out of his mind.

Felix sighed as she scratched Skarmory under her metal feathers and fed it some pokemon food in her pocket; she had learned long ago that if she gave her anything else, Skarmory went a little coo-coo. "We're almost there, buddy. Then you can have a nice long rest."

Felicity waited as Phoenix mounted his flying fire-type and took off before she followed suit. The rest of the flight to Striaton City was quiet.

When they landed in Striaton, Charizard immediately yawned a monstrous yawn and fell to the ground with an enormous wham. Phoenix rolled his eyes and immediately returned his Pokemon. He pocketed him and looked over at Felix, who had just landed. He noticed that she was unusually quiet and stayed a good distance from them during their flight. With his abnormally colored eyes, he also noticed that she looked really cold. He moved over to her and grabbed her hand, putting his own against it; each of their body temperatures were vastly different, and Phoenix was at a regular and healthy temperature.

Felicity sighed and stretched as she hopped off Skarmory; flying was exhausting and she was happy to have landed. She turned to her Skarmory and recalled her to her pokeball. She shrunk it down and put it back on her wrist before turning to Phoenix, thankful that his Charizard had been returned to its ball. "So I gather we'll be staying at the Pokemon Center?" Felicity yawned.

He nodded, let go of her hand, and walked into the Pokemon Center. After being greeted cheerfully by the staff, Phoenix handed Nurse Joy Charizard's Pokeball and paid for a room for two people. The guy seemed like an endless source of cash.

They ate dinner at the Pokemon Center which was, lucky them, pizza made from scratch. There were multiple kinds and they were all really good. Afterwards, they retreated to their rooms.

About an hour after most people were curled into bed, a knock sounded against Felix's door. Standing behind it was an Infernape who looked a little sleepy, but content. The flame on his head had dimmed; a sign that he was tired. When she opened the door, he handed her a blanket with a note attached and plodded off to his master's room. The note said that the blanket had been treated; warmed against his fire Pokemon. It was like the blanket had freshly come out of the dryer, and as a plus, it stayed warmer longer. Phoenix figured that she would have warmed up by then, but it was still cold out.

Felix yawned as she watched the sleepy Infernape walk down the hall. She closed the door and plopped back down on her bed and curled up under the warm blanket. It was cold nights like this one that made her really wish she had a furry pokemon to curl up with. Once again she had robbed herself of something because of her impulsiveness. Felicity sighed and went to sleep. She had a big battle tomorrow and she was going to need a clear mind.

Felicity's hand shot out from under the blankets. She slammed it down on her alarm clock and got out of bed. It was still dark out as she stretched and walk to the bath room to take a shower and think. She closed her eyes, letting the water cascade down her body as she planed who she would use in each case. She knew about the gym somewhat, like the three gym leaders and their three different types of pokemon. She wasn't sure who she would be fighting and how but it helped to calm her mind when she was simply planning. After a few minutes, she finished washing her hair she and stepped out of the shower to get ready for rest of the day.

Felicity could feel the nerves of her upcoming battle affecting her; her face showed nothing of what she was feeling on the inside as she went downstairs. Nobody was really awake, say for the Nurse Joy at the counter. Felix waved back, returning the greeting from the Nurse. Suddenly, a thought struck her. "Is there somewhere I could train?"

"There is a battle club just up the street," the pink-haired nurse supplied helpfully.

"Wonderful," Felix thanked her and left the center. She quickly spotted the distinctive sign above a large brick and glass building. There were only a few people around with it still being predawn, so it was no surprise when she found the only person in the Battle Club was Don George. The large man beamed, seeing a trainer up so early to battle, but was sad to inform her no one was up. Felicity grinned and just asked the way to the battle room.

The room took up most of the space in the area with its several type of battle areas. It was desert-like, Don George had warned her. Felicity grinned; it was perfect for her purposes. She pulled a pokeball off her bracelet and threw it into the air. As it popped open the red beam shot out and formed into one of Felix's beloved friends.

"Ready Lucario?" Felix smiled as the pokemon nodded to her and fell into a battle stance. They charged at each other and began trading blows.

Phoenix shot up in bed, breathing hard and shaking. He was covered in cold sweat and had been crying out in his sleep, so his Houndoom had gingerly licked his cheek in concern. Houndoom always slept with him. His loyal dog whined and looked up at him with worry in his eyes, making the man smile. Phoenix glanced over to where Infernape was sleeping and rolled his eyes. The monkey was literally sleeping in the curtains, elevated off the ground. He was tangled up in them and snoring loudly, his mouth wide open.

He turned back to and patted his Houndoom's head, praising and thanking him. Houndoom looked at him with an eye of worry still, but put his head down on his paws. Phoenix assured him that he was fine now, but stood up and went to the bathroom. He had to take a leak.

Phoenix returned to his bed soon after, scratching his head and his belly. He couldn't help but think back to his dream. It hadn't really been a nightmare, but it was one of those dreams that seemed normal and, right before you woke up, had a horrible twist that lasted a few seconds.

As he tucked himself into bed, he couldn't keep from frowning. Houndoom slowly crawled on top of the blankets he was under and lay on his master, ever so gently licking his chin. Phoenix smiled at him and scratched him between the horns. Houndoom fell asleep like that, but then again, Houndoom had the Early Bird ability. He woke up at the slightest disturbance, woke up very early, and seemed to hardly need sleep in the first place. Phoenix would just have to keep from dreaming about his childhood.

He sighed and looked up, putting one hand on Houndoom's muscular neck and the other behind his own head. Phoenix closed his eyes, instantly seeing himself as a kid. He was re-watching the more disturbing parts of his dream, but not by choice. He had been about ten years old at the time…

_Phoenix sat on the ground crying. Blood was smeared on his face while his hands were caked with dried dirt with blood mixed in. His Houndour lay on the ground shaking in front of him, utterly traumatized. The blood-red haired boy crawled over to his Pokemon and cradled him, dark blood spilling out of the gash in the creature's side._

_His older step-brother stood over him and shook his head, smiling. His Machamp imitated its owner, crossing one pair of arms across his chest and placing the others on his hips. The Machamp, who had done the deed, had Houndoor's blood on only one of his hands. It had only taken one thrust._

_"Where's your Mommy and Daddy now, kid?" Charlie asked, grinning down at him. Phoenix looked up at him with a dead stare. He clenched his jaw and looked at him with a stern face. Even now, this kid thought he could defy his much-more-powerful-than-him step-brother. Charlie scowled and kicked him, sending both he and Houndour flying and getting blood on his boot. Droplets of the red liquid dotted the dirt and quickly turned to black spots._

_Phoenix did his best to hug Houndour, putting pressure on the wound and turning his back to Charlie. He had to protect Houndour… The boy closed his eyes and sobbed, clenching his wheezing Pokemon's body. Mom and Dad were gone on a business trip… They had put Uncle Jack in charge, but Charlie had chased him out with cowardly tactics. Now the most powerful person in the entire estate, he took what he wanted and acted as an utter tyrant._

_Charlie was leaving now, and by this time, Phoenix had a gash in the right side of his chest. It wasn't as serious as Houndour's, but was still a very bad cut stretching about six inches long, an inch wide, and half an inch deep. Bleeding, he roared at his step-brother. He screamed out that he would find, beat, and kill Charlie._

_Charlie just grinned at him and left. No one saw him again after that._

Phoenix sighed and lightly gripped Houndoom's fur. Houndoom, before that, had been a very playful and expressive puppy. He still was, but only when he was absolutely alone with Phoenix. Before that instance, which had happened very quickly in his dream, he was just reliving parts of his past that were normal.

He thought about his vow to himself; to kill Charlie. No one had seen Charlie since then. He was a member of the Elite Four now, and he had many ways of getting information, but Charlie had literally just vanished off the face of the Earth. Phoenix had pushed the ambition to the back of his mind a long time ago, but it still bothered him sometimes.

Charlie himself was actually kind of a step-step-brother. Phoenix's father was Charlie's step-father, but his real mother had abandoned him because she didn't want kids. She was one of those ladies whose only goal was to _actually _screw over men. They only went after them for money and took what they wanted. Phoenix's father remarried to his mother, and then they brought Phoenix into the world. Charlie was about ten years older than he was, so the wounds were already set in his bones.

Phoenix yawned and stretched, exposing his tongue piercing and scar on his chest. He ran his hand up his body to scratch his neck and accidentally felt it. It was the same scar Charlie had given him so long ago and now stretched over his collarbone. It was still pretty noticeable, so he preferred not to go without a shirt. Houndoom still had his scar, but he had fur which made it less noticeable. He got up, seeing neither of his Pokemon in the room. Infernape liked to get up early and cause trouble, but Houndoom didn't like to be very far from Phoenix or not at his side of an extended period of time.

The man got up and walked into the bathroom attached to his room to take a shower. Once he was done with that, he put on a regular t-shirt and sweat pants. He wrapped his coat around his shoulders and turned around. Houndoom was suddenly sitting there with two plates. One of the plates had raw, bloody meat with a few berries for nutrients while the other plate was filled with pancakes, eggs, bacon, hash browns, and even toast. Phoenix smiled and took his plate. He praised his companion, asking how he even got this accomplished. Houndoom didn't respond, which wasn't unusual at all, and started eating. He made himself appear indifferent, but his trainer knew how he really was. While Phoenix ate, it occurred to him that the situation was a little ironic; the dog was spoiling his human.

After breakfast, the two left and locked the room. It was about nine o'clock now, and Phoenix figured Felix would want to get an early start. On the way to her room, he decided to finally let go of acting so polite. He was technically required to, but that didn't mean he would like it. Besides, she was his student and he was the teacher. He was allowed to decide for himself how he would go about teaching his student. Phoenix also figured that it would take awhile, so he decided to just have fun with the project and not look at it or her as if they were a burden.

Phoenix didn't hear anything coming from her room, so he knocked a few times. No answer. He asked Houndoom, because Houndoom was amazing at sensing presences, but he shook his head. No one in the room. He shrugged and walked down to the lobby. He asked Nurse Joy if she knew where a girl named Felicity went. After describing her, Nurse Joy promptly directed him to the Battle Club. The man nodded and thanked her, walking outside.

The city itself wasn't very big, and so Phoenix was easily able to locate the Battle Club. He walked in to see two younger trainers battling, and when one of them saw him, he gawked. After about five minutes of dealing with fans and trying to figure out where Felicity was at the same time, he finally got what he wanted. He moved towards the one-on-one training section and saw Felix training.

To his surprise, a Shadow Ball flew right at his face as soon as he entered the room. Letting his instincts take over, Phoenix deflected and dispersed it. He had learned many forms of martial arts from his parents and dojo. They ran an entire city of fighting types and were famous throughout the world for having been the starting point of most of the fighting-type trainers around the world, but that was beside the point now.

Phoenix eyed Felix and her Lucario up and down. Clearly, Lucario had been the culprit of the free-flying Shadow Ball, but Felix was probably the cause. Houndoom sat beside his master, amusement glinting in his fiery eyes as he thought of the unfortunate souls' fate.

Phoenix simply sighed and shook his head. He told her her that she would be fighting Chili at the gym. Of course, that meant she would be fighting against her weakness. Whoopee, right?

"Meet me at the gym," he told her as he walked out of the room. Houndoom smiled impishly at them before turning and slinking after his master. He seemed to chuckle at Felix and Lucario as they left together.

Infernape was, for some reason, waiting at the gym and watching through the window. He screamed out loud every time a monkey got hit, and seemed to have been doing so ever since the gym opened. Phoenix reeled him in and told him to go find something else to do that wouldn't scare people. Instead, he just waited for Felix to come so he could watch her battle. When she arrived, Phoenix and she entered the gym. Chili immediately recognized him, so it was easy to schedule Felix for an immediate battle. He explained that Chili should use his strongest Pokemon against her because she was aiming to become a gym leader. He decided that it would be a double battle, each person only being able to use the two Pokemon they decide to send out.

Chili nodded and sent out his Stoutland and Simisear. He smiled at her, waiting for her to send out hers.

Felix returned the smile with one of her own as she pulled a pair of balls off her wrist and threw them out before her. Her ever faithful Lucario and Empoleon stood before her, ready to fight.

Felix walked over and shook hands with Chili. It had been a hard fought battle and she had learned a lot from him. "Thank you for the battle, you almost had me there a few times. Would you mind answering a few questions about being Gym Leader for me?"

Phoenix watched her battle. She had displayed her power and used very effective strategies, showing her understanding of Pokemon and battling itself. Finally, he could be content with the idea of her being his student.

After the two were finished talking, the two of them left together. "Good job, Peewee," he told her, smiling down at her. He had decided that, from now on, he would call her Peewee and not any other name.

"Peewee," Felix paused for a moment before she turned to him and glared. "I am not a small pudgy bird!"

Phoenix chuckled. "And I am not a fiery bird that defies death. You are, on the other hand, a short, feisty girl who likes to fly. So, that will be your name," he told her, smiling in a very sweet manner.

Infernape had been made to wait outside and had been told that if he screamed once, Houndoom would give chase. Infernape had just saluted but had snickered before he had done so, so Phoenix was a little unsure about the whole thing. Honestly, Infernape could hand Houndoom's tail to him; mostly because of the type disadvantage.

As a small reward for winning, Phoenix treated them to lunch before they set off to Nacrene City, where the next gym leader was. She was a normal-type gym leader, so Phoenix figured that Felix would have absolutely no trouble. All throughout their lunch, Phoenix called her Peewee whenever he addressed her, and every time he did, he had a big smile on his face.


End file.
